Quick Links

Club PA 2.0 has arrived! If you'd like to access some extra PA content and help support the forums, check it out at patreon.com/ClubPA

The image size limit has been raised to 1mb! Anything larger than that should be linked to. This is a HARD limit, please do not abuse it.

Our new Indie Games subforum is now open for business in G&T. Go and check it out, you might land a code for a free game. If you're developing an indie game and want to post about it, follow these directions. If you don't, he'll break your legs! Hahaha! Seriously though.

Our rules have been updated and given their own forum. Go and look at them! They are nice, and there may be new ones that you didn't know about! Hooray for rules! Hooray for The System! Hooray for Conforming!

Pretty RPGs to Push it to the Limit

My brother is getting a new computer that is an absolute beast in the hardware department! Seriously the thing could probably run Crysis without a hiccup!

Now the only problem is that he wants an RPG that is extremely pretty, extremely recent, and is not Oblivion. He really doesn't want to get this game because of the things he's heard about the leveling system. He wants to get a newer RPG so any suggestions of golden oldies like Fallout or Deus Ex are out. I'm really not all that familiar with western RPGs much less ones that have appeared recently. Could anyone come up with any suggestions?

Also any referrals to any other upcoming, awesome, pushing-hardware-to-the-limit games would be appreciated.

EDIT: Forgot to add, no MMORPGs. The only one my brother's playing is World of Warcraft and he has next to no desire to spend hours and money on another one.

System Shock 2 (though it's more actiony) is a must, there are high resolution texture packs and such available also. Fallout, its sequel, and Fallout Tactics are also great games.

Make sure he gets Hellgate as soon as it's available.

Neo Rasa on April 2007

"You know how Batman hangs people over the edge of buildings and gets them to spill information. That's Neo Rasa's way of it, but instead of information, he just likes to see people suffer." ~Senor Fish

Also...not many choices there, as the best RPGs are still largely 2d-ish, i.e. Baldur's Gate, Fallout et al. Gothic 2 was fun if not buggy (avoid 3 like the plague), and of course there's the mandatory Oblivion as mentioned above.

Yes, I read the op. Your brother is a retard if he's going to reject what is widely hailed as one of the best games of all time because he has only heard about nonspecific problems with "leveling."

That aside, Titan Quest is a good bet.

However, most of the big CRPG titles people are getting excited about have yet to come out but will in a few weeks or months. He's poised in a very good position now to tackle those games as soon as they come out.

Also...not many choices there, as the best RPGs are still largely 2d-ish, i.e. Baldur's Gate, Fallout et al. Gothic 2 was fun if not buggy (avoid 3 like the plague), and of course there's the mandatory Oblivion as mentioned above.

It's fine that you thought that. I'm probably gonna just convince him to get Oblivion.

Yes, I read the op. Your brother is a retard if he's going to reject what is widely hailed as one of the best games of all time because he has only heard about nonspecific problems with "leveling."

That aside, Titan Quest is a good bet.

However, most of the big CRPG titles people are getting excited about have yet to come out but will in a few weeks or months. He's poised in a very good position now to tackle those games as soon as they come out.

I would agree with his brother and non-specific problems with "leveling".

It's a huge problem. I haven't touched it since I realised my character 10+ hours is boned and I'd need to start again because creatures keep getting stronger and I can't fight skeletons at all.

However he's running it on a PC, they can patch it and fix it so leveling actually levels you.

Yes, I read the op. Your brother is a retard if he's going to reject what is widely hailed as one of the best games of all time because he has only heard about nonspecific problems with "leveling."

That aside, Titan Quest is a good bet.

However, most of the big CRPG titles people are getting excited about have yet to come out but will in a few weeks or months. He's poised in a very good position now to tackle those games as soon as they come out.

I would agree with his brother and non-specific problems with "leveling".

It's a huge problem. I haven't touched it since I realised my character 10+ hours is boned and I'd need to start again because creatures keep getting stronger and I can't fight skeletons at all.

However he's running it on a PC, they can patch it and fix it so leveling actually levels you.

Recommendation for Titan Quest and its Expansion TQ:Immortal Throne. Diabloesque, but still great, lots of replay value if your a sucker for loot, nevermind the 3 difficulties with loot that goes with each difficulty level and a TON of character customization options.

Theres a difficulty slider and a fuck-tonne of mods if you run into problems with/dislike the leveling system in Oblivion. That alone is hardly a reason not to play the game, especially if your looking for blisteringly good eye candy.

I don't think I've ever raged as hard as I just did. The amount of stupidity was so intense I couldn't eben think of words venomous enough to insult my team mates. I was literally choking on my own rage. I can only hope they all live in the same city and die in a tragic bus accident today, or tommorow. I'll pray to whatever dark god I have to.

The scaled levelling in Oblivion doesn't bother me, it means I keep getting see new stuff as I progress, and can't always rely on the same gear. That said, the PC version can easily be modded to fix that. And it truly is a wonderful, amazing, phenomenal game. Force him into it.

Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines is so good it's almost sexual. It needs the fan-patches, though.

Now the only problem is that he wants an RPG that is extremely pretty, extremely recent, and is not Oblivion. He really doesn't want to get this game because of the things he's heard about the leveling system.

I'd say that if he's looking for stuff that's already out, it might not be a bad idea to check out the KotOR series, Jade Empire and Fable (All a few years old now, but still decent-looking and good games). Also, Guild Wars is absolutely gorgeous, and isn't technically an MMO (online play is absolutely free, and you can totally play it solo if you really, really want to, although you'll be asking for some tough playing farther in).

Some Guild Wars images:

Although I'll still echo the sentiments of the thread - if you like RPGs and your PC can run it, you really, really, really, really, really need to own Oblivion. Really.

Oblivion (with leveling mods; I agree the original system is screwy)
NWN2 (requires a beastly system to run with maxed graphics, but the game doesn't look as good as you'd expect)
Titan Quest (shallow but very entertaining Diablo clone)
Guild Wars Nightfall (great CRPG, no fees, amazing graphics. CaspianX's images are all from the first GW game, the other two look even better.)
Dungeon Siege 2

HarshLanguage on April 2007

> turn on lightGood start to the day. Pity it's going to be the worst one of your life. The light is now on.

I don't think I've ever raged as hard as I just did. The amount of stupidity was so intense I couldn't eben think of words venomous enough to insult my team mates. I was literally choking on my own rage. I can only hope they all live in the same city and die in a tragic bus accident today, or tommorow. I'll pray to whatever dark god I have to.

HarshLanguage speaks the truth - all of those images are from the first game (and VERY EARLY into it, too), and the two sequels do look better. They're stand-alone sequels, too, meaning you don't need the original game to play them.

Here's a few pics from Nightfall:

And just to cover the bases, here are a few from Factions:

Note: That last area is a place where the ground is supposedly made out of Jade or something, and the light reflects off of it in a way that's very impressive, giving it an almost oily sheen. I say this because it looks much prettier in motion.

It should be mentioned that I feel that the GW series has impressive graphics on multiple levels - the characters all feature a good amount of detail and animation, the environments are huge, the art style is very imaginative, and the game scales amazingly well - the graphics actually still look very good, even if you're not running a top-of-the-line PC.

Edit: My apologies for H-scroll breakage, but I felt that larger images would better show the games' graphics.

As far as games that're both *good* and will show off his hardware, the only option at the moment is Oblivion. Most of the other games mentioned are ok looking, but won't benefit from absurd hardware the way Oblivion will.

Tell him to get Oblivion, and look online for some custom config stuff to make it look even nicer.

Picking up Oblivion is a good idea, but make sure you get Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul and perhaps a few additional mods (Qarl's Texture Pack III comes to mind). I hated Oblivion before installing OOO. Sure it was pretty, but there was no sense of achievement as you played. Enemies leveling with you meant that you never really felt stronger, and it also broke the immersion in the world. Also, the lack of enough unique items was (and still is without mods) a problem compared to the previous Elder Scrolls games.

If only we could have Morrowind with Oblivions engine. I can only take so much of the green forrest areas of Oblivion before getting bored.

Picking up Oblivion is a good idea, but make sure you get Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul and perhaps a few additional mods (Qarl's Texture Pack III comes to mind). I hated Oblivion before installing OOO. Sure it was pretty, but there was no sense of achievement as you played. Enemies leveling with you meant that you never really felt stronger, and it also broke the immersion in the world. Also, the lack of enough unique items was (and still is without mods) a problem compared to the previous Elder Scrolls games.

If only we could have Morrowind with Oblivions engine. I can only take so much of the green forrest areas of Oblivion before getting bored.

As opposed to what? Morrowind was mostly bland and ugly, Oblivion was bright and beautiful.

As opposed to what? Morrowind was mostly bland and ugly, Oblivion was bright and beautiful.

Morrowind was anything but bland and ugly. On a technical level it might not be much to look at today, but the style of it was and still is great. The unique landscapes made me completely loose myself into its world, something Oblivion never managed to do. To better explain it, for me the world of Morrowind was like a Grimm Brothers tale while Oblivion felt more like the Disney version.

As opposed to what? Morrowind was mostly bland and ugly, Oblivion was bright and beautiful.

Morrowind was anything but bland and ugly. On a technical level it might not be much to look at today, but the style of it was and still is great. The unique landscapes made me completely loose myself into its world, something Oblivion never managed to do. To better explain it, for me the world of Morrowind was like a Grimm Brothers tale while Oblivion felt more like the Disney version.

I guess to each their own. I mean, I liked Morrowind, but largely, I didn't care for the landscape, and felt like it was often far too empty.

I love Oblivion's forests and massive fields of flowers gently waving in the wind.

As opposed to what? Morrowind was mostly bland and ugly, Oblivion was bright and beautiful.

Morrowind was anything but bland and ugly. On a technical level it might not be much to look at today, but the style of it was and still is great. The unique landscapes made me completely loose myself into its world, something Oblivion never managed to do. To better explain it, for me the world of Morrowind was like a Grimm Brothers tale while Oblivion felt more like the Disney version.

I guess to each their own. I mean, I liked Oblivion, but largely, I didn't care for the landscape, and felt like it was often far too empty.

I love Morrowind's ash deserts, rolling plains, and marshes with gigantic mushrooms towering over the trees.

As opposed to what? Morrowind was mostly bland and ugly, Oblivion was bright and beautiful.

Morrowind was anything but bland and ugly. On a technical level it might not be much to look at today, but the style of it was and still is great. The unique landscapes made me completely loose myself into its world, something Oblivion never managed to do. To better explain it, for me the world of Morrowind was like a Grimm Brothers tale while Oblivion felt more like the Disney version.

I guess to each their own. I mean, I liked Oblivion, but largely, I didn't care for the landscape, and felt like it was often far too empty.

I love Morrowind's ash deserts, rolling plains, and marshes with gigantic mushrooms towering over the trees.